


Outcast

by Milkyway_Bread



Series: Tales of the Gaang [7]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Hand-Holding, Team as Family, Toph Beifong-centric, Toph needs a hug, and gets many, everyone is a good sibling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29403702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milkyway_Bread/pseuds/Milkyway_Bread
Summary: Toph ground her teeth together, "You don't get it! None of you get it! You don't know what it's like, to be an outcast!"Sokka's voice floated through, "Look, I can't speak for an exiled Prince, the last airbender and the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, but I for one, have definately never been an outcast."Or, Toph gets a letter from her mother and in this merry crew of misfits, she finds her place.
Relationships: Toph Beifong & The Gaang
Series: Tales of the Gaang [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825765
Comments: 15
Kudos: 107





	Outcast

There was wind in her hair, the only thing grounding her up in the air. Even after so long, she couldn't get used to not having her feet on the ground. Boats of metal were only slightly better - at least trying to find the minerals within them distracted her from her helplessness.

Usually, Appa's rumbling would calm her, but today it only agitated her further. Her friends were chattering in the background, saying goodbye to Suki as they dropped her off on Kyoshi before heading to Gaoling.

Gaoling. Toph felt her stomach churn at the thought.

"Toph?" Suki called out, "See you later, okay?"

"Yeah, you too, Miss Perfect."

That brought on a distinct pause as people turned to look at her. She must have put too much force into it.

She tried to smile but it came off as a grimace. But she really couldn't be bothered at the moment. The others said their goodbyes, a little awkward now, and Appa took off again.

_ Oma and Shu, _ she really hated being up in the air. It was so cold and wet and loud because the wind was howling and she wished it would just  _ shut up _ .

There had been no plans to head to Gaoling. Maybe there had been, for Zuko, who wanted to establish a good relationship with them, but there had been no plans for _ her.  _ She was quite content, terrorising the Fire Nation citizens.

But then came the letter.

Toph hadn't thought twice about it, mostly because she hadn't even known it existed until Katara had cleared her throat gently and said, "Toph, there's a letter here from your mother."

Now hadn't  _ that _ brought up bad memories. Was this another lure from bounty hunters? But surely, that was over now - she was the Greatest Earthbender in the World, _ (no, King Bumi, there was no debate),  _ people wouldn't be sending her letters to lure her in. Not after the intricate plots that Zuko and Aang had to suffer through. To bait her with a letter was just stupid.

"What does it say?" Toph has asked.

She wished she hadn't.

And she wished it really had been a trap.

Mother had this way of speaking that translated into her writing as well. This soft, patronising tone that was both a comfort and an annoyance. Toph had grown used to toning it out, back when she had still lived with her parents. She hadn't expected that tone, still so prominent through someone else's voice, to pull at Toph's heart uncomfortably.

In the end, she was Toph's  _ mother _ and after meeting Zuko's father, Toph had come to realise that she  _ did _ care about her parents.

She had run away, because that's what kids did when their parents were stupid and overbearing. But Toph could never hate her parents. And she knew her parents loved her, in their own way.

"Toph?" Katara's voice broke the silence that had settled on Appa's back, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Toph said in a way that was definitely  _ not fine _ , especially to her own, refined ears.

Toph knew Katara well enough to know she had bristled at that. "You can talk to us, you know?"

Toph let out a long, slow breath. She knew. It didn't make it easier.

It was stupid, anyway.

"Doesn't matter," Toph huffed, "Let's just get this meeting over with."

"It's not just a meeting," Zuko protested, "You said you wanted to reconcile with them."

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. I hate them."

"Toph," Aang said softly, "You don't mean that."

_ Well, no duh, Twinkletoes,  _ Toph thought bitterly. That didn't change anything.

"Well, I don't want to see them!" Toph snapped, "They'll never change. They're probably still see me as small and weak and pathetic - "

"You're none of those things," Katara said instantly, her words sharp and defensive, which made a small, warm feeling bubble in Toph's chest.

"I  _ know _ that! They don't."

Zuko's hand rested on her arm, instantly chasing away the chill of the high altitude, "But that's why we're going. So that they can understand that. Your mother sounded like she wanted to - "

Toph wrenched her arm away from him, "You don't know what my Mother is like! She's never wanted to understand me before, why would she now?"

"Things have changed. They miss you - "

"I don't care! I wanna go back!"

Toph's lower lip trembled and she hated how she sounded like a child. She was thirteen now, her birthday had come to pass, she should be more mature about this. She fought a  _ war _ for spirit's sake.

But she didn't  _ want _ to do this. She didn't want to see her parents again. She hated how the very thought of it made bile climb her throat.

Toph could still feel the vast, emptiness of the Beifong Mansion. The way the soles of her foot used to slap against hard marble as she tried to escape her bodyguards. She remembered how the sounds echoed and echoed until Toph lost her way, only to be found and trapped again.

She hated sitting with her parents and they cooed and babied her, hated how small she had felt,  _ hated _ how she - loud and proud and the  _ best _ \- couldn't find her voice to protest it.

More than any of it, she hated that she had had to  _ run _ away for them to even  _ want _ to understand her.

So no, she didn't hate her parents, but that didn't mean she didn't  _ hate. _

"Toph?" Sokka asked, concerned.

She hadn't realised she was crying. Furiously, she wiped away the tears. This was so dumb.

"Whatever, just drop me off at the Earth Rumble or something. Sparky over here can go see them by himself."

"We're not going in without you," Aang said firmly.

Toph ground her teeth together, "You don't get it! None of you get it! You don't know what it's like, to be an outcast!"

Sokka's voice floated through, "Look, I can't speak for an exiled Prince, the last airbender and the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, but I for one, have definitely never been an outcast."

"Yeah, well this isn't about YOU, Mr. Oh-look-at-me-I'm-so-weak! Nobody asked you!"

There was a beat of silence and Toph wondered if she had finally crossed some unspoken line. That was fine - she had waited for this day for a long time.

But then, Sokka spoke, "You're right. I'm sorry, this isn't about me. This is about you, Toph, but it's not about you  _ alone. _ We're going to be there with you, remember?"

"I - oh."

Well, she  _ had  _ known that, implicitly. The gang was kinda just always there. She supposed she hadn't really thought about them being there for  _ this _ as well.

There was a hand in hers - calloused, with long delicate fingers that was never made to hold those callouses. Zuko's, then. Toph had held his hand enough time to have those hard lines memorised.

"Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?" Zuko asked, a little bit of humour in his voice, "Can't get rid of them."

There was another hand in hers, smooth and small, almost fragile. Aang's. He didn't say anything, simply squeezed.

Suddenly, Toph felt a little embarrassed at her outburst. The walls of Beifong Manor didn't look so scary, when she thought about Sokka being around to accidentally break a few things, or Zuko being instantly drawn to the garden, or Katara swooning over some of her old dresses, or Aang playing tag with her.

Maybe - maybe Mother would be smiling again, and Toph would know from her soothing heartbeats. Maybe Father would hold Mother in his arms and watch Toph together, with a lot less worry but no less fondness. Maybe, it could be like Toph remembered, so long ago, before the air became too suffocating and her parent's marriage became a business transaction.

"Tell you what," Sokka said, "It's fine if you don't want to go inside. We'll drag you mum outside, if she's so willing to meet you. But let's touch down on Gaoling first, okay?"

"Yeah," Toph murmured, not remembering when she had buried her head in Zuko's shoulder (not because she wanted to, she was just cold, definitely), "Okay."

"I know it's not the same," Katara said, "But going back home was so strange for us too. Very few were happy that we abandoned them, Avatar or not. And the fact that we brought home a Firebender - well - "

Toph remembered that well. Despite the fact that she had been surrounded by snow, she had managed to dig enough earth to slam a bigot from the North in the face.

Sokka hummed, "But it was nice too. We finally broke ice with the sisters, remember. Even if I'll never call them," he shivered, " _ Friends _ ."

Toph remembered that too. Remembered cackling as Sokka and Katara stumbled their way to reconciliation, remembered a promise to punch those girls if they  _ dared _ hurt Toph's friends.

She knew - had always known, like she knew the feeling of dirt under her feet and the feeling of her friend's heartbeats - she  _ knew _ that they would do the same for her.

"What I said before, Toph - I didn't mean to say that it wasn't about you," Sokka said, "Or that your feelings were any, well, less important than ours. I mean, I get it - compared to spirit-damned  _ Ozai _ , everyone is a saint -"

Zuko made a strange sound at the back of his throat, but didn't disagree.

"But just because your parents are as awful as that doesn't mean that facing them is less scary. We  _ get _ that, we promise you," Aang squeezed her hand again. Through it, Toph could feel his heart, too big for this world, "We'll be there, every step of the way."

"And if it gets too scary, I propose a hit-and-run," Katara volunteered.

Zuko flinched and whispered, "She gets scarier every day."

Toph laughed, a little wet but not enough to distract her, "Hey Sugar, Sparky said you're scary."

"He said WHAT?"

"No wait, I didn't - "

The sound of a cloud liquefying and drenching Zuko met Toph's ears just seconds before she, unfortunately still clinging onto the firebender, was drenched too. The water sunk through her clothes, causing her to shiver.

"Oh no! Sorry, Toph, I only meant to throw Zuko off Appa -"

"Huh?!"

Aang was muffling giggles in Toph's shoulder. Sokka, who was still holding onto Appa's reins, was laughing freely. Zuko grumbled but didn't sound too annoyed as he and Katara began drying them off.

"This is treason! I am Firelord!"

"You know, falling is actually a really nice sensation - "

"I apologise for my actions, Master Waterbender. Forgive me."

"Sokka! Did you teach Zuko sarcasm."

'Yup!"

"Thanks, I hate it."

Toph felt the tenseness leave her as they conversation drifted off to safer topics. She let their words float by as Zuko shifted away to let Katara engulf Toph in a hug. The wind didn't feel as cold anymore, sandwiched between her friends.

"It's nice to belong somewhere," Toph said eventually, "This is the second place I've ever felt like I - well,  _ mattered _ , I guess."

"You'll always matter to us," Katara said firmly. Then paused. "Wait, second?"

Toph grinned, "Mind if we stop by somewhere before I go visit my parents. I need to blow off some steam."

"Uh, sure. Where to?"

Toph tried every day to be worthy of her friends.

But she was also not above being a little brat.

***

"WHO'S READY TO RUMMMMBBBBLLLLLEEEE!"

The cheers rose from the crowd, drowning out anyone who wasn't losing their heads.

"Katara, I'm scared."

"Me too, Aang. Me too."

Sokka leaned over the railing and screamed, his blind-bandit wig bobbing.

Katara was scarred for life at  _ that _ sight.

"THE BLIND-BANDIT RETURNS TO FACE HER NEWEST ADVERSARY! Born from the shadows, cast out by the Spirits, the first non-bender in the Earth Rumble ... tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we present to you -

"THE BLUE SPIRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Katara face palmed. Aang laughed nervously.

Sokka tried to get his Blue Spirit mask to fit over his Blind Bandit wig and considered investing in marketing.

The Blue Spirit pulled out his dao and pointed the tip of one at his opponent. A silent challenge.

(He was going to get hell for this, if the Captain of his Guard ever found out.)

And Toph - well, she  _ cackled _ .

**Author's Note:**

> I love Toph. That is all.


End file.
